The Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen is over for another year and I’ve been cleared to share some highlights of the Hunt.

This is the second year Krystal has participated and Sarah’s first year. It’s my second year as a GISHelper – someone not officially on the team who offers a helping hand where needed [No, I don’t get to go to Iceland if their team wins, but that’s OK – I knew that going into this.] These are just a few* of the photos/videos from the week.

*Namely, those pictures or videos that were taken with my phone or saved to our home computer. I think all told Krystal completed between 17-19 items and Sarah completed 9 or 10. Perhaps I’ll be able to share all the pictures at some point.

All photographs/videos property of me & Team Shenanig8r

Posted with Permission

The Photographs

Your pet has just released their first, much anticipated, heavy metal rock album. Show us the cover art.

It’s the era of streaming media! But you have scads of obsolete technology clogging your closets/attics/garage. Take your old VHS tapes, CD-Roms, decommissioned cell phones, power cords that have nothing to power, and create – and model – a haute couture look worthy of a fashion show. Pose wearing your masterpiece (as if you were a mannequin) in a shop window next to actual mannequins wearing ordinary clothes.

Krystal and I scoured the house and scavenged the thrift shops and came up with this:

click to embiggen in slideshow

[ No, I’m not going to tell you what we used – trade secrets 😉 ]

Submit two images, side-by-side: let’s see what existential angst looks like next to what the meaning of life is.

Misha loves to travel, but between filming, gishing, and that thing we never talk about in front of polite company, he hasn’t had much time lately. Help Misha out by cosplaying as him in front of one of the 7 modern wonders of the world. No photo manipulation — you have to really be there.

You wouldn’t expect someone to go on vacation without their family, would you?

It’s summer (for those of us above the equator)! Time to go the beach! But sand castles are so dated, so gauche, so elitist, so medieval. Catch up with the times and build a sand trailer park.

A shocking final image of its tragic end:

Isn’t it great to get your friends and family together for the holidays?! But it’s so hard! Sometimes all you can manage is getting everyone together for one holiday a year. But then you have to choose a holiday, and that’s so hard, too! Wait a minute… not if you decide to celebrate ALL holidays in that one night! Let’s see that night.

William Shatner opted out of the Hunt this year due to “scheduling conflicts” (which we all know is code for “trouble in bromance paradise”). Help Shatner realize the egregious mistake he made by skipping the 2016 hunt by sending him 3 photo postcards featuring highlights of this year’s Hunt experience with “Having a wonderful time! Gish you were here, Bill!” Submit a photo of the 3 cards stamped and addressed to Bill. You can all ask him for his mailing address on twitter. He’d like that, I’m sure.

Many people think superheroes have a great life of running around saving people with lots of public recognition for their grand deeds. But we know the truth. They have to do the same domestic chores in their off time that we do. Let’s see a superhero performing a tedious domestic chore.

“Someday your face will freeze like that!” said every mother ever. The 2016 Summer Olympics has added Competitive Gurning to their roster and you are your country’s champion. Put on your Olympic uniform and let’s see your medal-winning, face-making moves. Judgment will be on technical merit, artistry, and execution. A perfect 10 takes the gold.

The Videos

[According to the rules, most videos are 16 seconds or less!]

You’re on the 2016 Summer Olympics Trash Scull Crew Team! Build your scull out of trash. Your team of 3 rowers is led by a coxswain who bangs two pieces of trash together to keep the time. Row for the gold!

Time-lapse this submission to 30 seconds or less. Paint a Bob Ross painting. We must see both the painter replicating the Bob Ross painting and the playback of the Bob Ross video the painter is replicating. You must paint in real-time while he is painting. The video should end with a side-by-side comparison of your masterpiece and Bob Ross’s.

Virtual reality interfaces are absolutely amazing. The technology is mind-blowing. Using virtual reality and augmented headsets like the Hololens and Oculus, I have stood on the surface of Mars at Jet Propulsion Laboratories and examined the undercarriage of the Mars Rover, been in the eye of a hurricane, and have been attacked by heavily-armed 19th-century militia. It’s mind-blowing. Your task is to create a virtual reality experience totally unlike any VR experience to date. This video will require a super-short, adrenalin-pumping intro-teaser, which will let the viewers know that they are about to experience VR like never before. THEN, abruptly cut to a 360-degree clip of the most mundane activity you can imagine. BORE US TO DEATH.